Who voted for Fazla's 'All the Pain of the World' at Eurovision in '93 and how BiH shared its votes then

(Patria) - The grand final of Eurovision is being held tomorrow, May 18, in Tel Aviv. Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have its representative this year. 

Although in previous years, since its independence, it has participated in Eurovision many times, BiH particularly remembers one performance - it has been 26 years since Muhamed Fazlagić Fazla and his team left besieged Sarajevo and headed to Dublin where, at Eurovision in that war-torn year of 1993, he represented the newly independent Bosnia and Herzegovina with the song "Sva bol svijeta" (All the Pain of the World). 

“We were 16th out of 25 participating countries in the final. We were second in the qualifiers. Champions of the world under those conditions,” Fazlagić recalled for the Patria news agency.

"We went to Eurovision 'on foot'," says Fazlagić, who uses this phrase to describe life in besieged Sarajevo and the difficult journey to Eurovision.

It was particularly emotional in the hall in Dublin during the vote count, after the singers performed their songs. After a few minutes of waiting for the satellite connection, a voice was heard: “Good evening Millstreet, Sarajevo calling,” followed by loud applause from the audience and the host’s remark that it was “good to hear from Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

Cut off from the rest of the world, the people of Sarajevo were trying to save themselves and their spirit, as every day of the war brought new pain, killings and injuries, destruction of buildings, shortages of water, electricity, food, and medicine.

Bosnia and Herzegovina shared its votes as follows: Slovenia (1), Turkey (2), United Kingdom (3), Malta (4), Denmark (5), Spain (6), Norway (7), Ireland (8), Netherlands (10), and Austria (12) points.

Out of the 27 points collected, which placed BiH in 16th position that evening, Fazlagić received a maximum of 12 points from Turkey. France and Malta also voted for BiH and 'Sva bol svijeta' with 4 points each, Ireland and Italy with 3 points each, and Belgium with 1 point. 

Even today, "Sva bol svijeta" is experienced very emotionally in BiH. The song reminds Sarajevans that the besieged city was a "hell on earth", but that even in such circumstances, they were ready to maintain their spirit and show pride.

The lyrics for the song "Sva bol svijeta" were written by Fahrudin Pecikoza, the music by Dino Merlin, while Dino Merlin and Sinan Alimanović, one of the greatest domestic and European jazz musicians, worked together on the arrangement. The conductor was Noel Kelehan.